What a crazy year 2013 has turned out to be! It's been chock full of all sorts of good things, but not much costuming/sewing. I didn't even attempt to make anything new for my Card Party, thank goodness for a Costume Closet already full of pretty Regency things! That is going to change though as I have several events coming up that the Costume Closet isn't going to help me with. But before I get into those projects I'll catch you up with what I have been working on since Christmas...

To say that I didn't make anything new for the card party wasn’t quite true - I made a necklace! I splurged for my birthday last fall on a couple of sparkly necklaces via Ebay. I wanted something uber bling-y but couldn't find anything in my price range I wanted so I bought two of the one necklace I liked and combined them - go big or go home!

I played around a lot with the design before figuring out what I liked best. There were many options with the with the different sized stones and pearls, I also tried spacers of different sizes and metal finishes. In the end I went for a clean and balanced option.

The necklace was knotted onto silk cord and finished with closed jump rings to be fastened with ribbon. I did all the knotting on the plane ride home from California - yay!

Over all I'm really happy with the way this came out. It's so sparkly and the pearls are a nice touch.

It also looks great with both my gold and my drop pearl tiaras. Yay!

My big project in January was creating my new sewing room! Thanks so some room shuffling in the house I now have a sewing room/office and a separate bedroom - it's so wonderful! I've never had a room to sew in that wasn’t a general family space or part of my bedroom so I don't know quite what to do with myself.

I wanted a room that would be calming (sewing can be stressful!) but that would also stir the creative juices so I choose a Tiffany box blue for the walls and hung lots of pictures of myself and my friends in costume to inspire me.

There are also two framed cork boards for inspiration and pinning patterns too. They started life as plain cheapie cork boards from Target that I cut down to fit two yard sale frames. So much prettier!

I also hung a gold Federalist mirror and sconces - a very generous loan from my sister Bridget. (Can you believe she found that mirror at a yard sale for $5! So jealous!)

The rest of the room is a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs and things I already had from other rooms. I tried to stick to white or light colored furniture to keep the room feeling large and cohesive but really I had to take what was on hand.

Everything worked out remarkably well, it's hard to believe I didn't carefully measure and specifically buy all the furniture and built-ins for this room. Clearly it was meant to be!

For now my work table is one of our folding card tables on bed risers (not pictured). It's not terribly cute but it works and I can fold it away when I'm not using it. For cutting larger things I have my bed (my old cutting table!) and the boardroom table in the dining room. I have my eye on a couple of tables at Ikea but the budget probably won't allow for them until after Costume College in August. So for now it’s the folding, slight gypsy life for me!

I was pretty skeptical that is would be able to fit everything in (my office + Mary Kay business + sewing and costuming) and still have a workable space but it really has worked out.

Oh and for the curious here is what my cozy new bedroom looks like!

Anyone recognize the curtains on the closet? They were for Jen Thompson's Curtain-Along, I only hung them up there as a temporary measure until I could get some other curtains to cover the closet. I have to admit I've fallen in love with them - they really are perfect for that room. I feel like such a traitor but really I think I'll be using them as curtains instead of a costume! *hangs head in shame*

So many pretties! I LOVE the necklace... LOVE the sewing room! And I totally LOL'ed over your traitor-ish curtains! Oh well. Maybe someday when you get tired of them in your room you can recycle them into a dress. :)

You have entirely too many books (I can say this because I've found you on LibraryThing... under Users with the Same Books :P) But that sewing room looks amazing. I'm super jealous of your huge mirrors.

LOL! The scary thing is I have way less books than both my parents and my sister! Oh and thanks for the reminder about LibraryThing, I'd kind of forgotten abut that.

Thanks! The large mirrors are doors on a cabinet that holds my Mary Kay business stuff and inventory. Ikea for the win! It was a bit of a pain to get in the room (had to take it apart to get it through the doorway) but I love how it makes the room seem so large considering it's such a large piece of furniture! And it's great for fitting and picture taking.

Cool! I've drooled over that mirror for years and when I found the frame on clearance last time I went I had to buy it. Right now it's just clear glass, need to figure out if I want a mirror or a picture in it. For now I love the pretty wall color coming through, it makes me happy for some reason. :>

Thank you so much! It is so nice to be able to work, leave everything as is and just crawl into bed now, instead of having to work, clean everything up and then go to bed! I'm loving that I'm not spending so much of my sewing time cleaning and setting up!

I love your new rooms, they look so welcoming, I bet your parents will really struggle to get you out of them ;)Your necklace is just gorgeous! I love the idea of taking two 'nice, but not amazing' necklaces and turning them into a GORGEOUS necklace :D